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Sorry, The Crown Will Not Feature #Megxit

Or Harry and Meghan at all

Sorry, Crownies (I assume that’s what cans of The Crown call themselves), you won’t be seeing the evolving drama of#Megxit on your favorite Netflix drama any time soon … or ever, if we’re to believe the showrunner Peter Morgan and sources close to the show.

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While the situation in Buckingham Palace continues to very dramatic – the Queen didn’t know! She’s summoned the family!!! – don’t expect to see this drama unfolding on screen any time soon. At least not on Netflix’s prestige drama. A source has confirmed to Vanity Fair that The Crown won’t address Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Escape from the Old Yorkshire. But that shouldn’t be surprising.

The plan for The Crown has been laid out for quite a while, with the series set to span six seasons and three separate eras of Queen Elizabeth’s life (with three separate actresses). Morgan told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 that he intended to finish the series story long before it got close to where we are now in history.

I know how my show is going to end — but that’s long before where we are now, I feel uncomfortable writing about events within a certain time period. I think there’s a certain amount of time within which, if you write about it, what you do instantly becomes journalistic. Because it’s too close to the moment. If you wait a certain amount of time, if you allow fifteen or twenty years, basically a generation, between you and [the events] then you can write about it somewhat freely as drama.

That’s entirely fair and I can see where Morgan is coming from. The desire to peek behind the curtain and see the real drama and inner lives of royals and celebrities is tempting, but there’s a prurience and tabloid quality to the idea of throwing it up on screen so quickly. After all, there already are Lifetime movies about this couple: Harry and Meghan: Royal Romance and Harry and Meghan: Becoming Royal.

Morgan had some other things to say about Meghan Markle last year that also have me raising eyebrows:

Let’s wait twenty years and see what there is to say about Meghan Markle. I don’t know what there is to say about Meghan Markle at the moment. I wouldn’t know and I wouldn’t presume. She’ll only become interesting once we’ve had twenty years to digest who she is and what her impact has been. If I were to write about Meghan Markle I would automatically be writing journalistically. I’ve got nothing to say about Meghan Markle.

I’m sure Morgan meant that we need distance to look at people in terms of dramatic narratives but—he could have phrased that better because of Meghan Markle is very interesting. But she also deserves peace and time outside of the spotlight, which seems to be part of the reason for this exit from royal life. We should respect that and let them live.

But if audiences are still eager to see this story on TV, I’m sure Lifetime is already developing Harry and Meghan: ROYAL ESCAPE! as we speak.

(Image: Lef: Netflix, Right:  Jonathan Brady, WPA Pool/Getty Images)

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Author
Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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